How to worship gods (a chapter from Noragami)
by SaphireButter
Summary: Hey guys, this is Saphire. What I wrote is from a chapter of Noragami, the manga, not the anime (though both are really good- I highly recommend it if you haven't watched or read it) when Yato gets his shrine from Hiyori in chapter 26. Hope you guys like it!


"So this time it's _Yato_ who's upset?" Hiyori asked uncertainly as she kneeled next to the sad lump under the woolly blanket. Just on cue, a low moan travelled from under the blanket. The lump practically had an aura of depression around it.

"He's all depressed because," Yukine paused for dramatic effect and said the next sentence with a much higher- pitched, whiny voice, "'_I want my shrine!_'" He sat crossed- legged on the floor. "What a SPOILED KID," he emphasised 'spoiled kid' so Yato could hear him under the blanket, and Yato let out another low moan in reply.

"You _sure _you didn't sting him, Yukki?" Kofuku cocked her head towards Yukine and her pink short curls bounced on her shoulders.

"He hasn't been eating a thing though…." Daikoku walked into the room carrying a bowl of freshly cooked noodles on a tray.

A head of jet black hair slowly emerged from the blanket. With his face flat on the pillow, Yato said softly, "…..I want one. Not having one is like being told 'you aren't needed'…."

Hiyori let out a small breathe, like she had been holding it all that time. "That's good." She said as she reached into the paper bag she brought. She pulled out….

"Oh, it's a mini shrine!" Daikoku and Yukine said at the same time, voices filled with joy and surprise.

It was just a small shrine to Hiyori. She found some materials in her brother's room and tried making one. In reference to all the normal shrines she had visited, she tried constructing a simpler, miniature version. To her, it was simple. _Too _simple. She had stressed out a bit that Yato wouldn't like it because he kept going on and on about how he would get enough money to build the _best _shrine in _Japan_ and how many people would go there to pray and worship him. When she pictured how he wanted his shrine to look, it was fancy, spacious and full of statues of him; and here she was, offering a small, simple shrine. It wasn't big, it wasn't fancy, and certainly _no one _could go there and pray to him. It was far from the best shrine in Japan.

But all she wanted to do was cheer him up, and she really, _really _hoped that this small shrine would do that.

From his initial depressed, crawled- up- in- a- ball- under- the- blanket position that only showed his hair, his head popped out and his face morphed into an unreadable expression. Joy? Disappointment? Moved?

Slowly, he sat up, still on the futon, and stared intently at the small shrine in front of him, as if the make sure that this wasn't a dream, it was _real_, it _is _real. He cupped his hands gently around the small shrine, as if it was the most precious treasure in the world.

"Isn't that great? You got the shrine that you always wanted." Yukine had an expression on his face that was of pure relief and clearly said _I am _so _glad you stopped whining…._

"Now you'll cheer up a bit…." Yukine trailed off as he stared at Yato's reaction. Hiyori turned to look.

Yato was crying.

Not the noisy kind of crying, but just small streams of tears flowing down gently and quietly down his face, tears of happiness, emotions that could not be put into words. He continued to look at the shrine in his hands, but now with a very readable expression.

A look that said _I'll treasure you forever and never let you go._

"You're over exaggerating…..!" Yukine muttered audibly.

"Not at all!" Kofuku said happily. "Being granted a shrine is a_ great _honour. Like saying 'Thank you' or 'I'm counting on you', it's proof of people's emotions."

_So that's what he wanted. To be appreciated, to be thanked, to stay in people's memories so they wouldn't forget him, wouldn't let him fade away without leaving a trace of himself behind on this Earth..._

Hiyori smiled as these thought ran through her mind.

_I didn't expect him to be this happy…..but if it'll cheer him up, then….._

She put her hands behind her back, partially balled her fists, and then felt a tiny, irritating sting as the splinters covered in plasters dug deeper into her skin. This was a small price to pay for Yato's expression at that moment. A small smile started forming on her lips.

_Then _I'm_ happy too….._


End file.
